The Redington Sonic-Pro wader earned the respect of everyone on the test team for their performance in general trout water applications. The 4-layer design proved durable, and comfortable, though not as breathable as some in the test. The Sonic-Pros fit very well on a variety of testers, and the hand-warmer pocket was much appreciated as the one nod toward frilly features. We also reviewed the Women’s specific version.

Fit

The cut of the Sonic-Pros proved comfortable for most anglers, with enough room for good mobility and flexibility without being bulky. The 13 available sizes allow a good fit for most everyone. The neoprene booties tended to be a little overly generous for most testers, resulting in folds and uncomfortable clumps of fabric when shoved into wading boots.

Breathability

Redington employed a 4-layer waterproof-breathable fabric throughout the wader for excellent durability, but the stout material does limit breathability when compared to others in this test. Our testers reported sweaty legs and feet more frequently in the Sonic-Pros than any other wader, even the Simms G3, which also earned lower marks on breathability.

Features

Though the Sonic-Pro has a few more pockets than the bare-bones Patagonia Middle Forks, Redington minimized the frills on these waders. There is a good sized flip-out security pocket to hold valuables, and a slim fleece-lined hand-warmer pocket — an addition our cold-fingered testers praised (one of our testers suffers from Reynaud’s disease, which limits blood flow to the extremities, and he loves hand-warmer pockets when fishing cool weather conditions on cold rivers). But that’s the limit of the add-on features offered on the Sonic-Pros.

Durability

The 4-layer fabric resisted all our efforts to breach it. We busted through prickly briers and scrambled over a host of rocks and logs alongside rivers in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Not a single tester was able to find a puncture on the Sonic-Pros after use, and the sonic-welded seams held up to some extreme stretching and contortions as we climbed in and out of boats, over and under logs, and through brush and brambles. The material and construction methods took all the abuse we could reasonably dish-out with showing even the slightest failure.

Versatility

The heavy fabric that gives the Sonic-Pro such good durability also limits the wader’s functionality in hot weather. The weight of the waders makes wearing them in hot weather a bit uncomfortable, especially when compared to the lighter weight options offered by Orvis and Patagonia. These Sonic-Pro waders perform admirably when wading cold rivers during cool to moderately-warm days, but they were a bit stifling when worn during days when the air temperatures climbed above the high 60s.